With a thump into moist soil, my high heels sink. I let go of the wooden planks nailed to the tree and begin my walk through the Emerald Lake forest.
After a day and a half of rest, Kane leaves to gather food.
Naturally, he gave me a strict order to stay in the tree house. Dangers lurk in these forests that I won’t believe unless I see them. Beings from old folk tales. The reasons why our citizens stay within their perimeters.
But I’ve already made the cots, cleaned up after us, and stared blankly at the horizon of swaying trees for over an hour. I’ve wondered endlessly what’s next for us? Are we planning on living in the tree house forever? Are we going to find somewhere to live? Build a hut? Find a safe place in the forest? Or does Kane have a plan?
The morning air is cool and refreshing, dancing against the turquoise leaves, creating an Emerald Lake symphony. But I don’t make it far.
There’s movement a few trees away. A flash of moss green and radiant gold.
Great, Kane was right. I didn’t make it two seconds.
I press my back into a tree, staying completely still until the figure leaves or reveals itself to me. I strain my eyes past the vines and shrubs and into the shadows of the sycamores.
I force my breathing to remain shallow and undetectable. But the forest dances on without interruption of man or beast, and there is no evidence I saw anything.
With a final minute of silence, to be sure, I lean off the tree, taking a step into the soft soil to investigate.
“Be frightened not.” A masculine voice like thunder and sandpaper echoes from behind me.
I spin around, the sides of my shoes filling with dirt, and I topple over as my eyes land on him. A tall, lean man wearing moss and vines for clothing, woven intricately around his body to the way veins would crisscross under skin. The wind flutters through his long, golden hair, pushing it back behind his shoulders.
I stay completely still, gauging his next actions with caution. The man narrows his hazel eyes down at me quizzically.
“My big friend will be back soon,” I say.
He looks around, intrigued. When he doesn’t see the big man I’m referring to, his light eyes fall back to me. “Young.”
I blink twice. Huh?
“What are your years?”
I cock my head. He doesn’t seem dangerous, but I can’t be too careful.
He steps toward me, long brown legs glistening in the sunlight.
“Stay back, Forest Boy.” Surprisingly, I don’t flinch. I stare back at him with calm, threatening eyes. Being away from the suffocating nature of the city seems to have made me feel stronger. When normally, I might crawl backward in fear.
His brow furrows. Gazing down at me as if I’m a pet of his. He dips his head to acknowledge my guardedness. “When you are ready.”
~
I shimmy my way back up the tree house ladder before Kane and DaiSzek return. The last thing I need is a firm scolding and an “I told you so.”
But apparently, I still don’t know him as well as I think I do.
“You just couldn’t resist leaving, huh?” Kane throws a sack over his shoulder before pulling himself up from the ladder.
“I didn’t leave,” I say quickly. Too quickly.
He smiles as he removes his shoes. “Tell that to the dirt you brought with you.” He nods at my high heels coated in wet soil.
Wonderful.
“That was from when we first arrived.”
His dark eyes flick to me and back down to the other shoe he’s untying. Amusement softens his expression. “Is that right?”
“It is.”
He nods with a smirk. “You haven’t learned much about lying to Dessin, have you?” And with that, he’s standing again, hovering over me. “Why are your hands dirty?”
I don’t even have to look to feel the grimy flakes over my palms.
“Okay! I went down for like five seconds.” I throw my arms in the air. “But I came back up right away.”
The amusement drains from his face like water swirling down a sink. He lifts his chin, putting pieces together he didn’t catch before.
“What happened?” he asks. “And don’t bother lying again. You’re terrible at it.”
I roll my eyes. “It was nothing. I saw a man that looked like a forest god. Really handsome. Perfect skin, like glowing…”
“To the point, Skylenna.” Kane pinches the bridge of his nose.
“He only said a few words. Asked my age, and said, when you’re ready before he left.”
“When you’re ready?” Kane peers down at my hands in deep thought. “How was he dressed?”
“Like a forest god. Moss, vines, shrubs, for clothes.”
His gaze snaps up to meet mine. “Impossible.”
“I didn’t even know people lived out here. We were always told it was so dangerous because of the creatures these forests were home to.”
Kane sits down next to me, running his large hand over his neck.
“My mother used to tell me tales of the colonies of the seven forests. The Emerald Lake forest was home to the Naiadales, the descendants of the lake nymphs. They looked and dressed exactly as you described.”
“There’s no such thing as nymphs,” I scoff.
“They aren’t nymphs. Their colony is descended from them, though.”
I glare at him. Waiting for him to laugh in my face for being so gullible. But his expression is stone. Unflinching.
“Is it dangerous for us to be out here, then?”
“He didn’t hurt you. Maybe these people aren’t as vile and dark as our own.”
Kane’s knee leans against my thigh, and it’s the first time we’ve touched since I met Greystone. A jolt of fire ignites under my skin at the contact. I stare down at my leg, unsure if I should move it or lean into him.
Dessin was clearly attracted to me, and Greystone must have been attracted to me if my presence brought him to the surface. But what about Kane? He’s looked at me with fondness, sure. But is it more than that?
I nudge him with my ankle. “You found food?”
He straightens and pushes off the cot. “Yes, no meat today. But I’ll go hunting soon.” Fruit tumbles to the wooden tree house floor from the sack he brought up.
Kane tugs a sheet to the floor, placing the fruit onto it.
I lower myself to sit across from him. “Hey!” I pick up an apple as I reminisce a moment from the asylum. “Remember when we had the picnic at the asylum?”
He doesn’t answer. I glance at his blank expression. Oh. He wasn’t the one I had the picnic with. “I’m sorry—”
Kane takes a bite out of an apple. “I remember a little.”
“How does that work? Do you have all of his memories? Or were you able to pay attention while he was in control?”
“A little of both,” he says quietly. “I can pull from his memories sometimes. But during your sessions with him, I made sure to stay close to the front to see how you’d interact with him.”
That must mean he was there when Dessin and I were close to kissing. He was there for every raw moment. I want to ask what he thought about it. But the topic seems too awkward to bear.
“Has it sunk in yet?” he asks.
“What?”
“Being on the run? Has any of that sunk in yet?”
I bite my lip. The taste of apple is sweet on my tongue.
“I don’t know. I’m still not sure what comes next,” I say, examining the next space of my apple I want to bite. “I had nothing in Chandelier City. You and Dessin are the only people that make me feel safe—that make me feel like I’m home. But I do need to know where this is headed.”
Kane lowers the apple from his mouth, staring intensely into my eyes. The sun sprinkles over his face like tiny flickers of candlelight. “Wherever you go, I shall follow.”
His heavy words coil around my thumping heart. Déjà vu sears my insides like a crackling fire trickling up my spine.
His eyes are as warm and radiant as melting copper. They dig into me with deliberate intent, unearthing my soul, flipping through the pages of my life as if there’s a chapter missing.
“Right now, I’m trying to buy us time. To rest. To enjoy a little freedom. But we’re playing a long game with Demechnef. They’ll never stop chasing me.” His head lowers, brow pinched together. “Fortunately, they aren’t thrilled about the forest. They’re paranoid that Vexamen lurks out here and of all the unknown species. So, it’ll take them longer to track us down. Dessin’s plan, however, is a bit different. He’s hoping to track down people and things that may help us negotiate with Demechnef. Create a treaty, perhaps.”
“What’s he trying to track down?”
“Defects who ran from the government. My mother is the one who gave me that advice. She said they could offer safe harbor and secrets about Demechnef.”
I nod slowly. “So, we’ll take it one day at a time then.”
“Yes.” He smiles. “Together.”
~
For the next few nights, Kane wanders deep into his own thoughts. Sometimes I watch him when he’s tied so tightly into the safety of his mind, the comfort of his old home. I wonder if he’d rather be in there than with me. But it gives me time to understand him without the cryptic messages of a conversation. He always makes sure I am fed and taken care of before providing for himself. I see that he goes out of his way to find the sweet plump red fruit I like so much at the top parts of the trees by the water. I see that when Kane thinks I’m asleep at night, he brushes the hair away from my face, drapes his blanket over me, and tucks it under my chin.
Tonight, I fall into a sleep that is heavy and unrecognizable. I see my father hovering over me, a wooden club in hand, a look of despair twisting over his face. I can’t move my arms to protect myself. I can’t roll away. I can’t even blink my eyes. Terror bites into my neck and wraps itself around my chest and waist. Please, don’t hurt me again. I try to scream, seeing the itch of a violent action worming through his limbs. Daddy, don’t do it. Don’t hurt me. Please don’t hurt me. My father begins to sob. Dessin! He takes the wooden club and slams it down into my stomach. I’m defenseless. I’m paralyzed. The shocking jolt of pain shoots through my gut. Another slam in my shoulder. Another into my chest. You’re going to kill me!
I find the perimeters of my own mouth and finally say, “Kane,” I think it comes out in a single breath. Can he even hear me? Will he know that I’m dying? My father is here, and he’s trying to kill me!
“Think of me.” I hear a voice outside of the beating. It’s Kane’s voice. “Think of me, Skylenna. Picture my face. Take my hands and let me pull you back.” The perfect picture of Kane flashes in my mind. I see his hands reach for me, pulling me into his arms. The safest place in the whole world. My eyes open, no more pain, no more Father. I’m in Kane’s arms. I let out an agonized sound. His chin rests on my head, my face nuzzled into his muscular chest.
The smell of cedar fills my nose, and I exhale in relief. He mirrors my breath and holds me tighter. “I’m sorry.” I shake my head. “I don’t know what—I’m sorry,” I say again.
“Sleep paralysis.” I hear a familiar smile in his voice. “Sometimes you just need someone to guide you out of it.” An echo of a memory tugging at my mind’s eye, yet it won’t reveal itself.
“It was horrible. I thought my father came back to kill me.”
Kane lets out a slow breath. “I wouldn’t have let him.”
I push against his chest to look at him. Our faces hover closely. “Can you make me a promise?”
He waits silently, smart enough to hear what the promise is first.
“Promise you’ll never take your life.”
Like a blow to his lungs, air catches in his chest. His weighty gaze rolls over me, pain clinging to his expression like a parasite. “You have my word.”
“Goo—”
“But I’ll need you to make the same promise,” he cuts me off.
“I would never—”
“Promise me, Skylenna,” he orders, but it sounds close to a plea.
I rest my head against his chest once more, breathing in the sweet aroma of cedar and sandalwood. “I promise.”
Kane tightens his strong arms around my body, gripping me like I’m a part of him now. I’m a piece of his soul that was severed, and he’s trying to mend it together again.
“Jack loved you, Skylenna. He believed removing his life from yours was the greatest act of love he could do for you.”
My eyes fall closed. “I suppose you’re not going to tell me how you knew any of that. How you knew my father’s name, and how you could possibly know if he loved me or not.”
“I have two minds about it.”
An unexpected rumble of laughter barrels out of my chest. I keep my mouth closed and let it shake my body against his. I feel the pulls of his cheeks against my head.
“You haven’t been sleeping,” I comment, snuggling into his arms.
“I know.”
“Why not?”
“I’m having trouble adjusting.” He sighs, warm breath blowing over my hair. “It’s nothing to worry about.”
“You’re also having headaches.” The moments where he rubs his temples, clenches his jaw, rolls his neck are happening more frequently.
“You’re quite observant.”
I nod.
“I’m okay. I promise.” The finality in his tone tells me the conversation is over.
“Can I tell you something?” I ask.
“Mhm.” Soft, sweet, warm molasses voice muffled against my head.
“I’ve never felt safer than when I’m with you or Dessin.”
He stays silent.
“I care about you.” And I can hear his heartbeat pick up its pace under the swollen muscles of his chest.
“And Aurick?” Not jealousy, no. More like he’s fishing for something.
“No.”
“No?”
Sleepiness weighs over my eyes. The sounds of midnight wind singing against the trees and the crickets lull me closer to falling back asleep. “I never did.” And in his arms, I drift.
But in a place less pleasant is where I wake up.
